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WATERFORD - Waterford Elementary School has been temporarily closed due to mold concerns since Friday, Aug 21. Superintendent Suellen Coleman has released statements via Facebook updating parents and the community of the Wolf Creek School District’s actions following the discovery.
Classes have been temporarily moved to alternate locations and Coleman states Waterford Elementary should return to the building for class next week.
On Monday, Coleman shared in a statement via Facebook, that the initial concern of mold was in June when the HS Volleyball team entered the locker rooms and discovered surface mold on cloth surfaces.
"The items were disposed of and the area was thoroughly cleaned. There were no signs of regrowth" Coleman stated.
On Aug. 17-18, three teachers at Waterford Elementary reported signs of mold in their classrooms, and administration immediately initiated evaluation steps.
Coleman's statements then say "out of an abundance of precaution" and after consulting with the Washington County Health Department, mold testing companies and a professional restoration company specializing in mold removal, the school would be closed on Aug 21 and has been closed since.
On Aug 23, an independent inspector took samples of all spaces within the building and used lift tape for spamles of anything that appeared to resemble mold. The samples were then sent to be processed and stated the earliest the results available Aug. 26 at the earliest. The next day, an independent mold remediation crew began cleaning the classroom spaces to prepare proactively so "we can safely expedite the return of students and staff," Coleman stated.
In a previous statement, Coleman said students would be sent to alternative locations for class including Waterford Methodist Church, Waterford Nazare Church and Waterford High School. Stating students should follow their regular transportation routines with students being dropped off at school will get shuttled by bus to the alternate locations.
Kara Greer, a local and parent of three children with two enrolled at Warren Elementary, said she was concerned with the safety of her children being transported to alternate locations.
"Sending (my children) to unfamiliar locations with unfamiliar routines did not feel like the safest option for our family," she said.
After hearing the concerns of parents within the community, students are now being sent to neighboring schools, including Fort Frye Local Schools, with the hope that the use of alternate locations will not last more than a week Coleman said.
Superintendent of Fort Frye Local Schools Stephanie Starcher said when Warren Local Schools reached out about housing students temporarily she agreed and stating if the roles were reversed she believed Waterford would open their doors to Fort Frye students "and that’s just what we did."
Starcher said the temporary housing of students posed minimal disruption as they worked with administrators and staff to adjust and accommodate the students, and provide them with a positive start to the new school year.
"We may be rivals in sports, but we're definitely neighbors, and that's what good neighbors do," said Starcher.
Superintendent Suellen Coleman outlined a remediation plan after consulting with Washington County Health Department and the cleaning company stating that:
All classrooms and spaces will be cleaned with disinfectant regardless of finding any mold present in the classroom/space.
All air filters will be changed in the self-containted HVAC units in each classroom space.
Once all spaces have been cleaned, we will wait for the test results to determine if there was any mold present, and ensure that the cleaning process was appropriate to rid the space of active mold.
All cleaning materials that will be used are non-toxic and the spaces are able to be entered immediately following the cleaning process.
HVAC units have been adjusted to run with continuous circulation and enhanced filtration to circulate air 24/7.
Additional dehumidifiers have been added to classrooms, with additional dehumidifiers being added to assist with the moisture in spaces due to the rainy weather.
Coleman stated via Facebook that following the retrieval of results on the mold testing, a statement would be released to the community.
Coleman was not immediately available for a comment.